Definition


Web-based applications allow groups to virtually share and collaborate on documents and other media no matter what platform or operating system is used. These tools are usually free, and require collaborators to establish an account. Such Web-based applications are an essential component to the social Web.


Rationale



Richard McManus & Joshua Porter
"Enter Web 2.0, a vision of the Web in which information is broken up into “microcontent” units that can be distributed over dozens of domains. The Web of documents has morphed into a Web of data. We are no longer just looking to the same old sources for information. Now we’re looking to a new set of tools to aggregate and remix microcontent in new and useful ways."

Stephen Downes
"In a nutshell, what was happening was that the Web was shifting from being a medium, in which information was transmitted and consumed, into being a platform, in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along. And what people were doing with the Web was not merely reading books, listening to the radio or watching TV, but having a conversation, with a vocabulary consisting not just of words but of images, video, multimedia and whatever they could get their hands on. And this became, and looked like, and behaved like, a network."


Tools



Office Applications


  • Google Docs and Spreadsheets - A word processing and spreadsheet program that keeps documents current and lets the people you choose update files from their own computers.]]

Google Docs in Plain English


  • Zoho Office Suite - Similar to Microsoft Office Suite, Zoho offers a word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database tool. Planner, chat, wiki, and virtual office features, are also available.
  • Writeboard - Write, share, revise and compare documents

Spreadsheets


  • Editgrid - Features real-time-update and extensive collaboration features.

Diagrams & Drawing



Bookmarking


Social bookmarking sites allow users to save links and annotate them. The process of tagging, a folksonomy, is used as a means of categorizing and organizing bookmarked sites. Tagging enables users to find other who share their interests and search for sites others have labeled with the same tag.
  • del.icio.us - remind users of previously deployed tags, suggests some tags, and notes tags used by others.
  • ma.gnolia.com - saves a copy of every bookmark you make
  • Furl - "Furl it and forget it."
  • TagCloud - A concept map used to display selected tags.
  • ZoomCloud - Similar to TagCloud

Photo & Movie Sharing



Fun & Handy


Tutorials




Examples & Scenarios



A student takes a walking tour of a historic district and takes photographs of various architectural elements. These photos are organized into a Photoset and then viewed in a Flickr generated slideshow during an oral report to his class. He later uses them as a reference resource for his coursework.
From Derek Baird


Flickr

Classroom Examples

More from Kuropatwa


Additional Resources